백룡동굴

Baekryong Donggul - Baekryong Cave

Useful Information

Location:	63 Munhui-gil, Mitan-myeon, Pyeongchang-gun, Gangwon-do. (37.277840, 128.577030)
Open:	11-FEB to 10-NOV daily 9-15. 11-NOV to 10-FEB daily 9-14. Tours every 30 minutes. Online booking recommended. [2022]
Fee:	Adults KRW 18,000, Children (6-16) KRW 14,000, Disabled free. Locals: Adults KRW 9,000, Children (6-16) KRW 7,000. Groups (20+): Adults KRW 14,000, Children (6-16) KRW 9,000. [2022]
Classification:	Karst cave
Light:	bring torch, helmet with headlamp provided
Dimension:	L=12,000 m.
Guided tours:	L=1,560 m, D=2 h. Max=20, Max=240/day.
Photography:
Accessibility:
Bibliography:
Address:	Baekryong Cave, 63 Munhui-gil, Mitan-myeon, Pyeongchang-gun, Gangwon-do, Tel: +82-33-334-7200~7201, Fax: +82-33-334-7202.
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

APR-1976	discovered by Jung Moo-ryong.
14-FEB-1979	designated Natural Monument No.260.
JUN-2010	opened to the public on cave trekking tours.

Description

백룡동굴 (baeglyongdong-gul, Baekryong Cave) is known for a very long time, but originally only a 200 m long piece of the cave was accessible. A local boy discovered a small hole at the end of the known passage. The hole was only the size of a fist, but there was wind blowing through the small hole. He persuaded four of his cousins to help him expand the hole with hammers and chisels. They worked for four days to dig a hole big enough to crawl through. With some of the first battery-powered flashlights which made it to this area, the boys discovered the rest of the cavern. The cave was then named after Mount Baekun, where it is located in, and the discoverer Jung Moo-ryong, by concatenating the first syllable of the mountain (Baek) and the last syllable of the discoverers name (ryong).

The cave was explored during the following years, but was accessible only to cavers. It was later declared National Treasure No. 260. In 2010, it was opened to the public on cave trekking tours. However, the cave is not developed and the number of visitors is restricted to 240 per day. Tours were organized from Seoul, including transportation to the remote village and the cave tour with necessary gear. However during the last years the area developed, there is now tourism, there are restaurants hotels and campgrounds. People come for boat tours on the river and other activities, as a result the number of people which come individually increases. Also, a so-called learning center was opened, full name 백룡동굴 생태체험 학습장 (Baekryong Cave Ecology Experience Learning Center). It is the meeting point, ticket office, and changing room.

The tour requires waterproof attire and a helmet with headlamp. The participation requires physical fitness and surefootedness. For this reason seniors, disabled (depending on kind of disability) and children under 6 are not allowed. Please arrive at the learning center 20 minutes before the start of the tour to complete your identity verification and ticketing.

The mouth of the cave is located in a cliff face above the Dong River. In the past it was accessible by boat only, but today there is a 300 m long steel-framed wooden stairway to the cave entrance. The guided part of the cave is actually a huge almost straight passage some 780 m long. It starts with the original cave entrance. After about 100 m the cave passage is filled with water about knee-high. 100 m further is the place where the artificial entrance was created. The tour ends at a huge chamber with impressive speleothems, after about 780 m. Then the visitors have to go back the same way they came in.

The horizontal cave has three passages. The first one is the tourist section. Passage two is 400 m and the most extraordinary sight is probably the thighbone of a cow which is encrusted inside a stalagmite. It is believed to be over 30,000 years old. The main sight of the third passage is a waterfall.

Beneath bats and other cave animals, there are otters living in the cave.